The Afigya Kwabre North District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is engaging various identifiable groups ahead of the District Level Election (DLE) scheduled for Tuesday, December 19.
This is to ensure they participate actively in the exercise to elect assembly and unit committee members to spearhead development in their local areas, as stipulated in the decentralisation concept.
Led by Ms Jemimah Osei, the District Director, officials of the Directorate engaged churches, Muslim communities, Tailors and Dressmaking Associations and food vendors at Boamang and Denase, on the theme: “Empowering Communities.”
They took their audience through the importance of local elections and the roles of their representatives in lobbying for resource allocation at the district assembly level.
Most of the participants, however, expressed apathy in the local elections, citing non-performance on the part of their assembly members over the years as one of the reasons.
Ms Osei took time to convince them to rethink their abstinence in the interest of community development, reminding them that it was imperative for them to determine who they wanted to represent them.
After the elections, they had a responsibility to demand whatever the candidates promised to do for the community and urged them not to relinquish their civic right to vote.
“The District Level Elections are very important because you get to vote for people that will represent you at the local level,” she said.
“These individuals are integral parts of your communities, providing a channel for your needs to be advocated within the Assembly.”
She said elected assembly members served as channels through which assemblies conveyed development projects to communities through the lobbying and advocacy.
Electing such people should, therefore, be a priority for every citizen interested in the development of their local areas, she added.
